This time I chose Paladin

"The food is still in the city." Nie Weiyang's expression was a bit complicated. "Go to Xinyin District and look for it... No, go and arrest everyone in the cafeteria in Xinyin District and interrogate them. Look for the cellars and underground passages!"

"What?" Liang Zhenduan was stunned for a moment, then his expression turned serious. "We previously speculated that the stolen grain might still be in the city. Do you think so too?"

"It's very likely." Nie Weiyang sighed. "The boss's judgment can be tricked. To trick a boss like Shuli, you need to use good land, good farm tools, or a large amount of food to perform a ritual. The Return Sect is very good at this trick because the Sky Crossing Demons are good at illusions. This is the first trick they learned."

"The description of the hostile target file clearly states that the boss has no thoughts. A cultural boss like this walking in the wild is just an illusion." Liang Zhenduan's face darkened, but it wasn't directed at Nie Weiyang. "Is there anything here we should know?"

Nie Weiyang smiled.

"Yes, it's just an illusion, without even true self-awareness... But have you forgotten?" Nie Weiyang gently pointed out the fact: "The boss has spiritual attributes."

The BOSS has... spiritual attributes!

Liang Zhenduan suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

How could he have ignored this fact before?! Damn! Those bosses, phantoms without self-awareness, where the hell did their spiritual attributes come from?!

Liang Zhenduan was so desperate that he wanted to pull his hair out, but he remained calm and quickly followed Nie Weiyang's train of thought: "What does its spiritual attribute come from? Or rather, where does it come from?"

While asking, he also glanced at the people accompanying him - two melee fighters, one ranged profession who was either a shooter or a spellcaster, and one stealth profession. This was the basic guard configuration for important personnel in Gushi.

There is no defensive profession called T position because there are really not many such people in the world, so naturally most of them are assigned to expedition teams.

Except for the spellcaster, the spiritual attributes of all the accompanying personnel in this team are lower than Liang Zhenduan.

Nie Weiyang might blurt out some secret knowledge from time to time, and Liang Zhenduan had to consider the people around him's ability to tolerate secret knowledge.

At this moment, these people were looking around vigilantly, while also listening to what the two said. But this time, Nie Weiyang not only did not reveal the secret knowledge, he did not even answer the question.

He just gave a somewhat melancholy smile and spread out his hands.

Liang Zhenduan knew that this meant he couldn't say it, but he still asked unwillingly, "Can't you hint at it?"

"It's impossible to hint at it." Nie Weiyang said.

This is really impossible to hint at - after all, the "cultural" BOSS, which includes national culture, myths and legends, religious humanities, is too broad in scope and the related information is too heavy.

[Their spiritual attributes come from a larger individual, which is also a collective.]

This sentence would make any player with a mental strength of less than 50 have their brain explode if they understood it.

Moreover, it does nothing to address the crisis at hand.

Nie Weiyang turned his head and looked towards Shuli's dark area.

Around that dark world, nearly a hundred people have gathered to form a team, quickly following the dark area, ready to enter it at any time and start a life-and-death challenge.

Shuli's dark zone covers dozens of acres, and mechanical vehicles are not allowed to enter. The challenge level is as high as level 20, and the recommended number of challengers is more than people.

Nowadays, the average level of players is not even close to 20. As long as it enters the ancient city, it will definitely cause devastating damage.

Nie Weiyang stepped on a stone and stared at the fields in the distance.

He could see that the top combat forces above level 20 in Gushi were continuously coming. Most of them were mid-range long-range professions, followed by long-range professions, and the least were melee professions. Apart from defense and healing, these two were rare.

There are the fewest high-end players in melee professions. This is because melee professions are too close to danger, and sometimes, a distraction may cost them their lives.

"Our career selection recommendations, skill allocation plan planning, optimal development process planning, and specialized combat training for various professions will be released soon. Once the garrison force is established, the career configuration will become more balanced."

Liang Zhenduan stood beside Nie Weiyang and introduced him to the subsequent plans of the ancient city.

Nie Weiyang nodded slightly. Seeing that the people in the distance had not arrived yet, he told Liang Zhenduan about the puppeteer and described the approximate location of the biological research institute.

"The normal strength of the Lost Soul Puppet Master is not that high. Under the current circumstances, he is considered capable if he can control a hundred humanoid puppets. But the number of puppets he controls is actually far more than a hundred. This is very strange, just like the fact that he turned into a dog." Nie Weiyang said softly.

Unlike the 'establishment of spiritual connection' of summoner-type professions, the control of puppeteer-type professions tends to 'directly manipulate the spiritual carrier'.

This is what it means to "manipulate a puppet" - this kind of manipulation is relatively more difficult to change the will of the puppet itself.

As a hidden profession, the Soul-Lost Puppet Master is one of the best. The control of this profession requires the puppeteer himself to have a sufficient understanding of the life form and changes of the controlled person.

The puppets of the Soul-Losing Puppet Master are corpses, precisely because the ultimate change of life is death.

Death is a necessary part of the natural cycle of nurturing new life.

Of course, there's more than one Lost Soul Puppet Master in this world. The one in Gushi isn't even the strongest. The strongest one is next door, having gradually snowballed from the great plague during the rainy season...

But even that soul-destroying puppeteer couldn't directly control thousands of puppets right now.

Turning into a dog sounds abstract, but in Nie Weiyang's opinion, it may be a manifestation of the bloodline being extremely purified in a short period of time, so that the life form is changed.

So, does the increase in the number of manipulated targets have anything to do with changing life forms?

—Yes, brother, yes.

According to Nie Weiyang's knowledge, something must have happened here. Adding to this the events unfolding before him, he could only think of one thing. Its keywords were 'life', 'diet', 'reproduction', 'alienation', 'death', and 'cycle'. Each time it appeared, there was a different precursor, and its name was -

[World BOSS: The Cycle of Life and Death]!

Chapter 147 Premonition?

[The Cycle of Life and Death], World BOSS, complete challenge level 70, recommended challenger number 5000000.

Yes, only five million combat professional players above level 70 could consider challenging this BOSS's full form. In other words, if humanity wasn't managing well, there was no point in even considering challenging it—and in the previous life, humans had indeed never challenged it, only its clones.

Yes, the existence of the principle of the cycle of life and death is similar to that of "Dream Eater". Its main body exists somewhere, and each boss that descends is a split body.

The precursor to the coming of separation is that in a certain area, the cycle of 'raw food, evolution, death and rebirth' will be repeated in the form of artificial combination of natural evolution events.

The larger the scope of the event, the higher the level of the descending clone.

But—isn't this a mid-to-late-stage boss?! Something that was only summoned after humans opened up the internet! Before the internet servers were activated, this thing should have been dormant, acting on instinct!

Why is it that the events happening now, combined with the characters, the more I look at it, the more it looks like it's about to come out!!!

When Nie Weiyang thought about this possibility, he almost went numb.

He knew very well that if his guess was correct, if this thing really awakened prematurely and unexpectedly, if it really succeeded in landing on the territory of the ancient city, everyone here would die! Everyone!

Including him now, without exception!

No matter how he thought about it, he felt that the "Cycle of Summoning" had already passed through "Difference" and "Death" and arrived at "Circulation" - Shuli went to the old city, the old farmer went to the city, what was it going to do? It couldn't be to farm.

It's going to deliver grain!

It has to go to the granary to pay the grain, but where is the granary?

In its perception, this is the place with the most food!

Even if nothing unexpected happens, that original place will not be included in its perception range!

——This is what really attracted Nie Weiyang to the "disputes" and "disasters" in the old city!

"I'll stop it! You go back to the city and stop them!" Nie Weiyang suddenly turned around and grabbed Liang Zhenduan's hand. For the first time since his rebirth, he was so anxious: "We must find it! We must find it!!! These are the lives of millions of people!"

Without waiting for the combat professionals who hadn't arrived yet, he leaped off the mountain! Liang Zhenduan exclaimed and took two steps forward, only to see Nie Weiyang snatch up an iron shield. It slid across the rocks twice, sending dazzling sparks flying down the slope. With a smooth forward roll, he unloaded the force, took a few steps forward, and leaped forward. The sleek motorcycle appeared out of thin air, and its rider crashed into the afterglow of the setting sun.

He clenched his fists anxiously, growled, turned and ran towards the off-road vehicle parked at the foot of the mountain behind him.

"Let's go!" he shouted. "Back to the city! Everyone, prepare for battle! Gather all hands to investigate the underground space. Today, we'll dig deep into the old city! Even if I die, I'll find that thief and feed him to the dogs!"

……

Nie Weiyang turned into a stream of light.

The Lucky Sign's horsepower is fully pulled, the front blade and spotlight are turned on, the destructive function is activated, and the speed of tearing up soil and rocks is faster than before, and it can even easily split hills and smash boulders.

[Consecrated Raid]!

[Decision: Go Forward]!

the goal--

Amid the roar, he stared intently at the dark area ahead, not even noticing the horrified gazes of the players in the fields on all sides.

——[Shu Li]!

Like a white-blue light flowing across the earth, a dazzling bolt of lightning struck into the dark area!

The lucky draw easily crashed into the darkness. The sorghum field's rejection of foreign vehicles was ineffective against such powerful destruction. The phantom of the blade-like leaves swayed, and the sound of cutting on the shield was banging.

At the edge of darkness, the setting sun poured down like molten gold, merging with the towering barrier of red ears. The veins of the leaves blazed, the tips of the ears burned, but the intensity was fleeting—the sky darkened, the setting sun vanished, and dusk surged up from the depths of the earth, like ink dripping into a pool of blood, swallowing every inch of the sky's light.

Red and black entangle and tear between the tips of leaves, the gaps between ears, and the swaying shadows of stems, and eventually become chaotic and indistinguishable.

The locomotive, a mechanical behemoth, split the sea of ​​corn, crushing the phantom of the crops to the sides. The roar of the waves stirred up the stagnant smell of earth. The knight, like a cold blade, split the interwoven red and black curtain, leaving behind only a rapidly closing crack and a shuddering darkness.

The sky and earth changed color, and dusk fell like an iron curtain. Only the track remained, piercing the chaos and sinking into the unfathomable heart of the sorghum field.

Outside the dark zone, everyone was stunned.

Inside the dark zone, Nie Weiyang heard all the sounds from the outside world disappear, leaving only the rustling of leaves. He raised his golden spear, transforming it into a ray of light, tearing through the darkness!

'boom! ! ! '

The monster that looked like an old farmer was knocked away and rolled dozens of meters on the ground, but the dark area stopped for a moment and did not move with it.

[You initiate an active attack on [Shu Li] and enter combat mode.]

Nie Weiyang drifted through a curve, sending up a ring of dirt and splitting the battle space. He held the lucky draw between his thighs and shook the spear in his hand, releasing a trail of blood shrouded in black mist.

"The sorghum isn't harvested yet," the villain who drove his car over the fields smiled. "Why are you going to hand in the grain now, father-in-law?"

The monster disguised as an old farmer slowly climbed up from the fallen sorghum. It shook the sack on its back and slowly turned its hunched body towards Nie Weiyang. Revealed from under its torn straw hat was a 'face' without any features and filled with black mist.

……

['Shu Li':

A roaming leader unit that targets enemies in the wild.

Prowling the farmlands in any form of boundary warfare, seizing the best fields, is not kind to farmers.

The Dark Zone is filled with [Crops of the Season]. Ordinary vehicles without destructive abilities are prohibited from entering areas where [Crops of the Season] exist.

Every 10% of [Crops of the Year] destroyed will gain a negative effect [Call Me Worried], which will cause continuous blood loss and reduce attack frequency/attack desire.

For every 10% of the [Crops of the Season] destroyed, it will gain a negative effect [What Do I Want], which will cause continuous damage while restoring a small amount of health to the [Crops of the Season].

After every three normal attacks, release the area skill [Spring Growth] to slightly restore the health of [Crops of the Year].

After every three casts of [Spring Growth], the fourth [Spring Growth] changes to [Summer Growth], dealing area damage to targets within the [Crops of the Year] range.

If [Seasonal Crops] are destroyed, one acre of [Seasonal Crops] will be generated for every 10 players killed. If [Seasonal Crops] are not destroyed, [Autumn Harvest] will be released, causing high-intensity area damage to the fan-shaped area in front and destroying the [Seasonal Crops] in the area.

If [Crops of the Season] are destroyed, after every 11 normal attacks, [Winter Storage] will be released on the open ground, causing additional [Cold] and [Slow] area damage to all targets within it.